[Chapter 12]
The phrase 'bull in a china shop' was an apt description of what was currently happening in Kuat City.
Miracle rode upon the back of a shining, cyan horse with a mane of flowing water and the wide tail of a fish, desperately trying to hold on while it bucked and neighed in a gurgling cadence. A tidal wave manifested below its feet, the creature reminiscent of a mythical beast found in Scottish legends.
The Kelpie Angel, as Izuku dubbed it, continued trying to buck her off its back. In doing so it crashed into nearby storefronts, nearly trampling a group of terrified civilians before she managed to pull it away. Like all Angels the creature was much stronger than it looked, and its strange ability to create and manipulate water wasn't doing her any favors.
"Easy, girl! Easy!" Izuku yelped, pulling at its slimy mane.
It, or rather, she, let out another gurgling laugh. The Kelpie was treating it all like a game, and Izuku knew she had to stop her soon before anyone got hurt. Water gushed from all four of the creature's hooves and flooded the street, a stray blast impacting a grocery store.
"My cabbages!"
"Sorry!" Izuku winced. She wondered if insurance would cover that. "Okay, let's get you out of town."
She pulled left. The Angel immediately steered right instead.
"Not that way, not that way!"
The Magical Girl and her Magic Water Horse leaped right into oncoming traffic, causing brakes to squeal when multiple drivers slammed onto their brakes simultaneously. Izuku apologized profusely and tried to fly with the Angel still in her grip, but her fingers kept slipping on the creature's skin. A closer look made her eyes widen in shock when she realized it had the ability to turn itself into water too, her fingers slipping through effortlessly. It was allowing her to ride it.
Play. Play with me.
"If that's how you want to do this, then fine." Izuku tapped her heels against its flanks. "Hyah!"
They took to the skies with a blast of water, the Kelpie letting out a whinny of delight. Its mane expanded into a thundercloud that trailed behind them, creating a rainstorm that drenched the onlookers below. Izuku preferred that compared to them disrupting live traffic.
After a few more minutes of flying and looping around above the sea the creature seemed to tire itself out, the two of them eventually landing atop an isolated beach. Izuku got off its back, the smell of seawater clinging onto her.
"Had enough?" Izuku sighed.
A little girl's giggling echoed in her head. Izuku resisted the urge to roll her eyes, opting to put her hands on her hips instead.
"[Is that really why you came here?]" Izuku asked. "[Just to play?]"
Lonely. So very lonely.
She paused. This Angel's voice carried a hint of sorrow and melancholic longing. It nuzzled against her, its watery mane brushing against her cheek while already starting to turn back into multicolored particles to return to whence it came.
"[You can't… you can't do things like this.]" Izuku whispered, speaking softly as if to a small child. "[You'll scare a lot of people. Be a good Quirk, okay?]"
The otherworldly creature whined an apology as it faded away. It was so young. Judging by how it broadcasted its emotions, it was almost like the creature was an infant. A toddler. With the way Izuku's luck was going, it probably was. It seemed that not all Angels came to Earth to feed. Perhaps some were just bored.
Her phone rumbled with a flurry of notifications a moment later, as if fate itself was listening to her thoughts. Checking it, she received multiple alerts on social media of an ongoing villain attack happening in the neighboring Yavin City.
Izuku groaned, taking to the skies once more. A bath would have to wait. After all…
A hero's work is never done.
She arrived as Miracle, a shining example of justice. A firefight in the main street between the police and the criminals paused momentarily, both parties looking shocked with jaws agape while their hands tightened around their weapons. The villains had guns. Assault rifles, with drum mags to boot. In the past, Izuku would have been terrified to be on the receiving end of one of those.
Now? She was more worried about the bullets bouncing off her and hitting someone else instead. The villains soon gathered their wits when Izuku advanced, opening fire. Police officers ducked for cover when high-caliber rounds filled the air, Izuku analyzing the situation in a span of a heartbeat.
A wounded officer lay against his damaged patrol vehicle a few meters ahead, keeping pressure on a gnarly bullet wound on his shoulder. She prioritized him first, leaping over.
"Hi! Do you mind if I borrow your car?" Izuku asked.
"Whuh… huh?" the man answered, barely able to stay conscious. He'd lost quite a bit of blood.
"I'll take that as a yes, then. Please hold on."
She scooped the officer up with one hand, the other grabbing the police car by the undercarriage and lifting the entire vehicle to use it as a shield. Izuku calmly walked out of the villains' arc of fire with the downed officer in her grip, his colleagues watching with disbelief even as she saved his life. Some ducked out of cover and tried to return fire at the villains, only to immediately back off when a burst of incoming bullets impacted with enough force to shatter concrete. The villains had something big with them. By Izuku's guess, it had to be something that used .50 BMG rounds.
Where in the world were these criminals getting such good equipment? No matter, she supposed the police would handle that later. After putting the wounded officer down she sped back into the fight, taking down three villains in the blink of an eye. She moved so fast that it almost looked like she teleported from one man to another, stunning the last villain. He was a massive turtle-like mutant, wielding a heavy machine gun with one hand like a toy.
The weapon barked, earsplitting staccato cracks filling the air. Heavy, depleted-uranium rounds simply bounced off Miracle, the villain unloading nearly a quarter of the ammo belt until Izuku put her thumb over the muzzle and caused it to jam. To the villain's credit he acted fast, gripping the gun by its red-hot barrel and bringing it down onto her head like a hammer. The weapon exploded into a thousand pieces upon contact, leaving Izuku completely unharmed. In a final, desperate act he pulled out a huge revolver and fired it into her face at point-blank range, the recoil bucking his arm upwards like the kick of a mule.
With a hand cannon that big her head should have been blown clean off. Instead the bullet crumpled against her eye harmlessly with a loud, terrible crack as if it'd met an impenetrable wall, falling onto the asphalt with a quiet clink.
"...I surrender." the last villain finally said, dropping his weapons and putting his hands in the air.
"Took you long enough." Izuku grunted.
Naturally, she slugged him across the face and knocked him out. She was nice, but not that nice. Behind her the police officers began to approach, some looking over her with visible concern.
"Kid, are you alright?" One of the senior officers asked, clearly worried. "I just watched you take a gunshot to the face and… huh. Is that a .44 magnum?"
"You tell me, mister." Izuku said tiredly, giving him a polite curtsy. "Bye, have a good day."
"Wha—where are you going, Miracle?"
"Lunch." Izuku replied, slowly floating into the air. "I'm tired and hungry."
"Wait a minute, we've still got to take your statement! You can't leave yet!"
"How 'bout I do anyway~?" Miracle gave them a tired wave. "Byyyyyeeee~."
She flew off without another word, leaving the stunned officers behind. Truth be told, it wasn't just because she hadn't had lunch yet. Staying any longer would risk being approached by a hero, and that was the last thing Izuku wanted. There was still some lingering bitterness when she thought about Hawks.
Thinking about it would do no good except annoy her. Izuku let the tension flow out of her with a low exhale, descending into a dark alleyway soon after. It lit up with a flash, a young boy in an All Might hoodie walking out.
He was tired in more ways than one. It was the kind of tired that sleep couldn't fix. Izuku had all the power he ever wanted, but being a hero was nothing like he expected. Saving people, beating bad guys, and banishing Angels was a little fun at first, but he soon realized that one mistake could lead to someone losing their life. This wasn't a game, far from it.
Perhaps this was how All Might felt. Ultimate power came packaged with ultimate responsibility. It was so very easy to misuse that power, and if Izuku were a lesser person he'd be consumed.
No use thinking about it now since he already resolved to do his best. Izuku instead got in line with his fellow refugees who were queuing for food. It was something the government had set up since many of the displaced had lost their livelihoods in the attack on Musutafu City.
The boy checked his pockets, finding no money at all. Zip, nada. He was flat out broke, just like the others in the line. At least Inko still had a job thanks to her background as a nurse, tending to the multitude of wounded still recovering from Mustard's massacre.
An odd-smelling slush of gray and brown filled the cheap, disposable plastic bowl in her hands. Some sort of porridge. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and Izuku simply accepted the meal with his head bowed. This kinda sucked. As Miracle, he could probably dine in the finest restaurants in Japan. Instead here he was, eating gruel that barely even tasted like anything. Izuku found a corner for himself and sat on the ground, quietly munching on the gray sludge.
One could barely imagine the powerful Magical Girl living in a ghetto such as this. Though the government had admittedly tried their best the living conditions were awful, the refugee camp slowly showing signs of turning into a slum while a sense of desperation plagued the air. With nowhere to go the former citizens of Musutafu were forced to stay here, tension and tempers rising with each passing day. The worst part was that Izuku felt responsible for their plight. In a way, this was his punishment.
His thoughts were cut short when the sound of heavy footsteps neared, surrounding him. Izuku attempted to stand and get out of the way, only to pale when he realized who it was.
Before him stood Bakugo Katsuki, his expression curled into an annoyed sneer.
"Well if it isn't shitty fucking Deku." Bakugo scowled. "Must be my lucky day."
Just as Izuku was about to say a timid greeting Bakugo's fist slammed into his solar plexus, wrenching the air from his lungs. The green-haired boy doubled over in pain, dropping the bowl of gruel in the process. Bakugo caught it before it even hit the floor, making a face of disgust before tossing the contents away. Izuku's lunch splattered all over the ground with a clatter. The noise attracted a few onlookers but they soon turned away, not willing to interfere.
"K-kacchan…" Izuku choked, gasping for air on the ground. "Why?"
Bakugo said nothing, repeatedly kicking and stomping on the poor, frightened boy. The old Izuku would have just laid there and taken it like a victim, but things were different now. There was a lapse in the blonde bully's strikes and Izuku leapt at him like a coiled spring, slamming his forehead into the other boy's nose.
The act of defiance clearly stunned Bakugo, who'd never expected weak, pathetic little Izuku to fight back. Both boys crashed to the ground in a whirlwind of fists and kicks, scrambling for dominance. Bakugo tried to take a mounted position but Izuku had trained for it in his sparring with Matsuda, twisting into a counter and punching his bully in the face for the first time in his life.
A little voice in Izuku's head cheered with barely-restrained delight.
Izuku intercepted the incoming right hook with ease, snarling. Bakugo was so damn predictable, like an open book. He proceeded to twist the blonde's arm into an armbar, causing Bakugo to let out a howl of frustration. Izuku yelped when an explosion burst from Bakugo's palm and split them apart, the two boys leaping away to take up fighting stances.
Small, crackling pops manifested atop Bakugo's raised hands like miniature firecrackers. Izuku clenched his teeth and prepared to lash out with his own Quirk, only to immediately freeze.
What was he thinking? If he unleashed Miracle here…
She'd probably maim or even kill Bakugo.
"Alright, break it up you two!" someone yelled.
A tall, lanky man got between the two boys, holding his hands out at them. Bakugo let out a growl and tried to surge forward, only to be pushed back and land right on his ass. He got right back up again but the man stood in his path like a wall, shielding Izuku from his fury.
"Back off, punk. Before we get the authorities."
We? Izuku thought. A woman with pink hair jogged over, worriedly checking on Izuku. It seemed she was the man's wife or girlfriend. Bakugo seemed to eye all three of them before finally deciding it wasn't worth it to get in trouble with the adults, lowering his hands.
"Tch! This isn't over, Deku." Bakugo spat before turning away.
Izuku only allowed himself to relax after the bully rounded a corner, the tension in his shoulders fading away. He hadn't even realized how fast his heart was beating, the orchestra in his chest slowing down into an even metronome.
"You okay, kid?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine." Izuku breathed. "I'm okay. Thank you, both of you."
"No worries. Kids these days, I swear…" the man grumbled.
Glancing at his saviors, he noticed that the pair were wearing hi-vis vests with the word 'Volunteer' emblazoned upon their backs.
"What was up with him?" the tall man asked.
"I dunno." Izuku admitted, looking away. "He just started attacking me out of nowhere."
"Must be the stress around here getting to him or something. Anyway, here's some water." the man held out a bottle to Izuku before turning to leave. "Come on, Kazuho."
The pair soon left after Izuku thanked them, leaving Izuku standing in the cold with a bottle of water. It was a reminder that there were still people out here who were willing to lend a helping hand, to provide kindness in times of despair and turmoil. He'd have to follow their example.
But first, he'd have to get lunch… again. He'd barely even managed to take a bite before Bakugo knocked it out of his hands. What the hell was his problem anyway? Izuku bit his lip, seething with silent fury. Did Bakugo see him as a target to unleash his frustrations upon, like a punching bag?
Izuku continued fuming as he made his way back into the alleyway to transform, needing to do so since there was a limit of one bowl per person at the food stands. With his green hair, they were sure to remember him and deny him an additional portion. Mikumo strode out of the alley after a flash of light, her pretty features twisted into a frustrated scowl. She tried calming down but still pouted, kicking a pebble along the road.
Stupid Kacchan… Freakin' bully… Next time I'll knock his damn teeth out…
"That's the spirit! We should break his legs too!"
Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden voice in her head, and Izuku slowly turned to look at the movement at the corner of her eye.
Floating next to her was another Mikumo Akatani. The duplicate was unclothed but completely featureless, her body resembling that of a mannequin. It was her face, but that chilling, lovesick expression was all too familiar.
"What's up, Izuku-Izuku. Did ya miss me?" Toga Himiko smiled.
[x]
Having lunch with herself was one of the strangest things Izuku had ever experienced. She was sitting on the edge of a rooftop, gulping down a new bowl of tasteless gruel. The people at the food stands even gave her an extra portion for some reason, despite Toga being invisible to everyone but her. She planned to bring it home to Inko.
"So… you're the Toga Himiko I know, right?" Izuku chewed slowly. "The me inside of me."
"Obviously." Toga scoffed, sitting beside her. Her appearance was in constant flux, shifting between her original form, Mikumo, and Miracle. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have revealed myself."
"Could you at least put some clothes on?"
"That's the first thing you ask for? Hehehe~"
"Well, it's kinda embarrassing to see you, or um, me naked…"
"Fair enough." Toga snapped her fingers and a cute sailor uniform manifested around her. "You're taking this oddly well. I expected you to freak out… Good job on standing up to that bully, by the way."
"I've had a rough day." Izuku sighed. "I'm too tired to freak out."
"More like a rough week. Sheesh. How many villain attacks did you stop so far, five? No, make that six."
"Wait a minute." Izuku narrowed her eyes. "Have you been spying on me?"
"It's more like looking through your eyes from time to time, really. I can't exactly read your thoughts or memories, but I saw snippets of shared history between you and boomboom boy when you two fought." Toga lazily floated around him as if she was underwater. "Looks like neither of us could get a break. Sucks to be you and me, huh?"
She proceeded to ignore the flat, annoyed look that Izuku sent her way. Toga was clearly messing with her, albeit lightheartedly. Despite it all she couldn't help the way her lips tugged upwards in a small smile, the two of them breaking into small giggles afterwards.
"God, we're a walking disaster…"
"You and me both." Izuku agreed quietly. "So what are you, really?"
"Me? I think a piece of the original me's consciousness. All that's left of her." Toga whispered. "A fragment of her soul. A Vestige."
"Are you going to try taking over my body?" Izuku asked slowly, concealing the worry in her tone. "Like you did to Matsuda-kun?"
Toga frowned. "Is that really how you think of me?"
"Can't blame me for being careful."
"No, Izuku-chan. I can't." Toga sighed. "The thing is, I think I know what happened with your friend and the other me. You've noticed how he was always in his female form when you guys met up?"
Izuku nodded, motioning for her to continue.
"When you transform, you become me. I become you. Basically, we become one being." Toga said. "The Mustard you fought in Musutafu City was a personality that was a combination of both me and Matsuda. I can even feel your influence touching my mind as we speak. It's subtle, but it's there. In other words…"
"The more I transform, the closer we become. It's why you can appear before me." Izuku nodded in quiet acceptance. "I suspected as much. So what now?"
"What now, indeed." Toga laughed. "That's the big question, isn't it?"
The phantom descended to rest herself atop Izuku's lap and wrapped around her waist, their faces only inches away. Izuku turned bright red at her close proximity, even more so when Toga's ethereal arms coiled around her in a loving hug before pulling away.
"There's no need to be afraid of me, Izuku-chan~ After all, I'm you." Toga said huskily. "Do I look like a girl that would hurt herself?"
"I… Um… I don't know a thing about you, really. Why don't you tell me about yourself?" Izuku stammered, trying to keep her wits.
"Oh, you know. It's the usual sad story. Terrible parents, abusive childhood, the works."
"Ah. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I don't think I will." Toga waved off her concerns with a smile. "If anything, I want to know more about you. Why do you do this, this… hero thing? Even after they've shown their true nature. Because you want to?"
"Because I need to." Izuku answered shakily. This was the closest she'd ever been to a girl, even if they couldn't physically touch each other. "Because the Angels need to be stopped, and we still have to find who did this to you."
"You, with the weight of the world on your shoulders?" Toga questioned.
"Someone else might get hurt." Izuku nodded. "I won't."
"Hehehe~ I suppose that's reason enough. You're the type to sacrifice yourself for others, aren't you? If it means nobody will get hurt, you're willing to get yourself nice and bloody." Toga cooed. "You're crazy. I like that."
Izuku's lip trembled, too awkward and nervous to respond. Toga took notice with a giggle, and her form shifted to match Izuku's… transforming into Mikumo. She leaned in closer, so close that Izuku could have sworn she felt her breath.
"Shh, shh. Don't be scared. You're so cute…" Toga whispered. "I'd never hurt such a pretty, beautiful thing."
She leaned in to kiss Izuku on the forehead, causing her to let out a surprised squeak. Somehow she was able to feel that despite Toga being an incorporeal Quirk-ghost that existed only within her mind. The vestige leaned away, giggling madly.
"Do your best, Izuku-chan." Toga smiled. "You can do it."
The vestige faded away like smoke on the wind a moment later, leaving Izuku all alone on the rooftop. The girl looked at her trembling hand before feeling around her face and noticing how her blush had spread all the way to her ears.
Pure shame mixed with confusion gripped her mind and Izuku wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. When Toga had hugged and kissed her while wearing Mikumo's visage she felt…
Izuku glanced at her shaking palm.
"I'm so messed up."
[x]
Izuku entered her new, temporary home, making an appearance as Mikumo just to soothe Inko's worries. The portly woman looked up in surprise when she realized it wasn't her son.
"Oh, Mikumo-chan! So good to see you again!"
"Hi, mo—um, Midoriya-san." Izuku bowed, biting her tongue at the slip-up. "I brought some food for you on Izuku's behalf."
"You did? Aww, thank you so much. By the way, your pet slime's over there on the counter. He seems to like it here!"
Izuku glanced over to see Pinky fast asleep in a basket, Inko having placed a miniature blanket over the slumbering creature. She made a tired smile and sat down on a nearby chair while Inko ate, content to simply relax after all the excitement in the morning.
"What's wrong, Mikumo-chan?" Inko asked, noticing her exhausted state. "Is everything alright? Do you have a place to stay? You're always welcome here, you know."
"I'm fine, Mrs. Midoriya." Izuku said. "Just a little tired."
Running her hands through her hair to tie it into a neat ponytail, Izuku took some time to inspect the golden locks. They were getting longer. Now that she thought of it, her male form was getting a little taller too.
"Tired? Oh dear. Have you been getting enough sleep?"
"Yeah… I just had a lot to do this morning."
Inko was quiet for a few more moments, hyper-fixating on the word 'morning'.
"Mikumo-chan, you know you can tell me anything, right? I won't judge."
"Um, sure? Thanks, I guess."
An awkward silence followed, with Izuku not sure why her mother was looking at her like that instead of finishing her meal. It was an odd gaze, scrutinizing and studying her closely. Izuku fidgeted on the spot.
"Do I have something on my face?"
"No, it's… it's nothing, dear." Inko said. "Has Izuku been treating you well?"
"Y-yeah. We had lunch together and ate…" Izuku squinted at the gray sludge. "Whatever that is earlier. It's pretty gross, but at least I didn't throw up."
Inko's eyes seemed to widen a little at that last part. Her eyes began roaming up and down Izuku's body, looking more worried by the second.
"W-well. Um. Mikumo-chan, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"You're not… pregnant, are you?" Inko asked nervously.
Izuku choked on empty air, coughing and sputtering madly while Inko waved her hands about in the air with panic.
"W-w-w-wha—"
"I mean, you were talking about being tired in the mornings and throwing up and Izuku has always been a little too reckless for his own good—"
"No! I'm not, it's… gyaa!" Izuku held a hand out while the other palmed her forehead. "It's not like that, Mrs. Midoriya. I'm just a little stressed, that's all."
"Oh! That's good to hear! I mean, no, that's bad to hear…" Inko stammered, slightly relieved.
Izuku held back another sigh. Mother and child truly were alike, even sharing the same nervous tics and habits. Sometimes Inko even launched into a mumble-storm of her own.
"Izuku and I are fine." she began, attempting to quickly change the topic. "I've heard so much about you from him. These days, you're all he talks about besides heroes."
"Huh." Inko collected herself with a small cough. "Did he… did he ever tell you about his father?"
The mere mention of the man caused Izuku to bite the inside of her cheek, instantly souring her mood.
"N-no."
"I see. I suppose that's for the best. We didn't part in the best of ways, so I was always worried that Izuku secretly resented me for it."
"What?" Izuku breathed. "No, never! I—he'd never blame you for something like that! I've heard nothing but praise about you from him. He… he loves you very, very much."
Inko's eyes softened. "Is that so? That boy, really."
The older woman leaned back into her chair with a soft exhale. Izuku realized she'd found an opportunity and asked a question she would have never dared to in her male form.
"Why did he leave? Um, if you don't mind me asking."
"It's fine, dear." Inko looked to the ceiling. "To be honest, I'm not too sure myself."
Izuku felt her hands balling into fists unconsciously before quickly unclenching them.
"Was it because Izuku was q-quirkless?"
Though she tried to hide the crack in her voice Inko had noticed it instantly, turning to her with a worried glance.
"No. At least, I don't think it was." Inko said. "My husband was a bastard, but he loved Izuku. I know he did."
Did he really? Izuku bit her lip in frustration but looked down at her lap, not wanting Inko to see her reaction.
"I think he was bored of me. Or perhaps he found someone else in America. He never did return, after all." Inko continued wistfully. "He just went out to get milk one day when Izuku was four and that was the last I ever heard from him. Never returned my calls either."
So… he didn't leave because of Izuku's Quirklessness? The new information left her scared and confused. All this time she assumed her father had left because she was missing a Quirk, an integral part of society that made her stick out like a sore thumb without one. A failure. A Deku. He would have left even if she had a Quirk?
That meant that there was something wrong with her instead. Her, Midoriya Izuku.
She couldn't imagine the problem being Inko. Before she gained weight because of stressing over her son's Quirkless status Inko was an absolute bombshell, with Izuku faintly recalling how she once overheard a conversation about how the woman had a ton of suitors even after her marriage.
Izuku reasoned that she herself was the problem here. She must have been. Why else would her father leave? Tears beaded at her eyes and threatened to roll down her cheeks, but she willed them to stay. A torrent of negative thoughts coursed through her mind, the girl questioning herself. Why? Was being with her really that hard? What did she do wrong, to be hated so much that he was willing to move to an entirely different continent?
She wished she never even asked the question in the first place, feeling as if she was about to cry. She was never good enough. Not now, not ever. Bakugo, who she once looked up to, hated her guts. The same exact thing happened with the heroes, who even placed a bounty on her.
Was she really that unlikable? She was doing her best…
"Mikumo-chan?" Inko asked, finally noticing her distress. "What's wrong?"
A rumble in her pocket broke her out of the deluge of dark thoughts. Izuku stood suddenly, her wooden chair scraping across the cold concrete ground with an ugly screech.
"It's nothing. I…" Her wet eyes met Inko's. "I should go."
The schoolgirl left for the door, leaving a stunned Inko behind. Just before she made her exit she paused, hand tightening around the doorframe.
"I'm sure Izuku loves you very much, Mrs. Midoriya." she sniffed. "He always will."
"Mikumo-chan, wait—"
Izuku didn't wait. She was gone the next moment, having leapt off the apartment and taking to the skies before Inko could even see her leave.
She sniffed, wiping any tears away with an oversized sleeve. Glowing ribbons encircled her and she was Miracle again, flying towards the source of the disturbance her phone had notified her of earlier. Another Angel appearance. Izuku welcomed it.
At least she could be useful there.
[x]
Miracle arrived on the scene, sparkling like a firefly in the midday sun.
It was clear that some sort of evacuation effort was going on, civilians being shepherded out of the area in neat, organized lines of human traffic while the battle went on behind them a few blocks away. Izuku was surprised at the competency of the nearby heroes, especially how quickly they were completing the evacuation. It was almost as if they'd planned for it beforehand.
No matter. She quickly raced to the point of the Angel's attack, finding multiple heroes trying to reign in a gigantic quadruped that seemed to be made of concrete and earth. It looked like a Tiger with interlocking stripes of gray and brown, so that's what Izuku called it.
The Tiger Angel turned to her and roared a challenge, swiping the air with a giant paw. Izuku hovered down to its eye level and held out her hand in an attempt to calm it down.
"Hey there, big guy. Everything's gonna be okay!"
Something was wrong, and Izuku noticed it almost immediately. The first thing that really stood out was her lack of connection with this new Angel. This time she didn't feel the same, familiar pull in her head that all Angels caused thanks to their shared origins. There was no connection at all even as Izuku fended off several attacks from the Tiger, its massive paw swipes bouncing off her guard.
The second was much more noticeable. Unlike all her other encounters with both Angels and Heroes the latter was holding back, not attacking the otherworldly creature. At first she thought she'd finally gotten through and they were letting her do her thing but upon closer inspection the heroes were tense, solely focusing on her instead of the Angel. Then she heard it, her super-hearing picking up a single sentence through their comms.
"Rabbit is in the snare. Commencing Operation Guillotine."
It's a trap!
That was when the Tiger Angel exploded into a torrent of mud and liquid concrete, crashing down on Izuku like a tidal wave. The Magical Girl let out a surprised cry but was swept into it, the mass coiling and hardening around her into a chrysalis.
Izuku exploded out of the makeshift prison moments later, only to find the sky above dyed pink by the sudden appearance of crisscrossing lines of light. They formed a hexagon that spanned over half the city, with her recognizing it as an upgraded, supersized version of the lightning cage from Felucia City. She raced upwards and tried to bust through it with sheer force, hoping that the wider range of the cage would mean a weaker barrier.
Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case when the barrier zapped her like a bug upon contact, throwing her backwards into a building with a crackling arc of pink lightning. Izuku groaned in pain and quickly assessed the damage, only to realize the entire building was empty. So were the streets when she flew out of the rubble, finding only heroes that closed in on her like a tightening noose.
The heroes had planned this in advance. This entire farce of a false Angel attack was built just to box her in.
[March 12th, 2XXX, 3:18:21 P.M.
Operation Guillotine begins. S-Class Metahuman 'Miracle' successfully enclosed within focused energy containment field.]
Izuku's mind raced, considering her potential escape plans. If the sky wasn't an option, then she would do the opposite. Bracing, she sped to the earth like an Olympic diver and dug into it, only to be tossed right back out a moment later. The concrete twisted itself into a swirling, gooey wave while the earth beneath it clumped together into massive beasts of all shapes and sizes.
She recognized these Quirks, having written about them in her Hero Analysis for the future. They belonged to heroes she idolized, people who she once dreamed of meeting.
Cementoss and Pixiebob. They'd thought of everything, cutting off all her escape routes.
No, no, NO!
Izuku's panic only intensified when a new opponent rocketed towards her in a streak of brown and white, whirling about to land a vicious kick that met her guard like the blow of a sledgehammer. The white blur backflipped away, landing on a nearby rooftop and tossing her hair back.
Rabbit Hero, Mirko.
"Hey there, Miracle. Hear you're a fast lil' bugger." Mirko grinned. "I'm pretty fast too, if I do say so myself—"
Mirko crouched low, preparing to take off like a sprinter on a track.
"—but there's only room for one rabbit in this town."
The rabbit-woman was on her in an instant, teeth bared and with battle-hungry gleam in her eye. Izuku turned to flee, the other heroes opening fire on her while Mirko chased.
[ 3:19:10 P.M.
Mirko engages Miracle in direct melee combat. Battlegroup A assists in corralling Miracle into the target area.]
"Luna Fall!"
Izuku raised her arms just in time to tank the attack, bucking backwards from the heavy impact. It was incomprehensible. Mirko's attack had managed to knock her back where a .50 caliber round couldn't. The raw power in her legs defied physics.
Those very same legs clamped around Miracle's neck in a vicegrip in the next instance, Mirko twisting about midair to chain another attack into her combo. The world spun about Izuku as Mirko once again defied conventional physics and sent her towards the ground with another signature move. Anyone else subject to such an attack would have had their head torn clean off from the sharp, sudden rotation.
"Luna Tijeras!"
Her back hit the asphalt like a meteor, shattering the road in a massive radius. Izuku backflipped off the ground right before Mirko's heel crashed down on where her face was only a second ago, pupils turning to pinpricks. Around them the other heroes continued to support Mirko, raining down covering fire onto Miracle. Izuku's fists cut through Pixiebob's earth beasts, the golems little more than annoying distractions.
The Magical Girl stomped, deep ravines forming around her heel. A localized earthquake followed, throwing many heroes off balance. They countered with Pixiebob and Cementoss' environment-shaping abilities, but the distraction was enough for her to fly off in search of the cage's struts. Mirko was in hot pursuit, the heroine becoming a relentless, heat-seeking missile.
Then the real missiles showed up. Dozens of them, fired from shoulder mounted rocket launchers held by green, mono-wheeled robots. Izuku recognized them as the same robots that were used in the U.A entrance exam, wondering what they were doing here until the missiles detonated right in front of her face.
They unleashed a barrage of different payloads, ranging from wire nets to thermobaric explosives. Izuku bulldozed her way through it all, desperately trying to escape Mirko by racing around a corner with a sharp turn. She then spotted the rabbit hero at her 12 o'clock, backed by a trio of flying robotic drones.
[3:22:37 P.M.
Miracle enters the target area. Eraser Head ability activation confirmed.]
Izuku let out a deafening scream when a sudden, inexplicable sense of excruciating pain seared itself upon her mind like a red-hot brand. She fell from the skies, the crash-landing carving a deep trench into the road below.
Pain. There was only pain that raced along her body like her veins were on fire, the sensation so strong that she was temporarily blinded from the stars exploding in her eyes. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All she could do was scream her lungs out as the pain overtook the primal part of her brain and begged for it to stop.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—"
"Izuku!" Toga's voice cried out. "Hang on!"
The blinding pain receded, as if cut in half. Izuku choked as she got up from her knees, staggering and coughing. Behind her Toga's vestige whimpered, hugging at herself.
"I'll share… this pain… with you…"
They had to get out of here. Izuku tried to fly, only for her Glitter to spark weakly around her. Whatever this attack was, it was messing with her Quirk. A puddle formed via a burst water pipe nearby, and Izuku beheld her reflection as Miracle.
The unknown attack had done more damage than Mirko and the other heroes combined. Half of Miracle's form had faded away, revealing the injured, blonde visage of Mikumo underneath. She was split right down the middle with a glowing green line like two pieces from different drawings stuck together haphazardly, her left half still that of an emerald Magical Girl. Her right half was the civilian Mikumo, dressed in her oversized All Might hoodie. Izuku panted with ragged breaths, finding it difficult to even breathe. The pain was still there, just halved and muted.
"Oh no… no, no, no…"
She couldn't fly. The heroes were surrounding her by the moment. Just as she was thinking it couldn't get any worse, two massive figures landed right before the deep crater she was in. Two stalks of brilliant, golden hair and a flaming beard caused her heart to drop all the way into her stomach.
All Might and Endeavor had arrived.
[3:22:37 P.M.
Eraser Head unable to fully nullify Miracle's Quirk. Switching to plan delta. All Might and Endeavor move in to engage.]
"Give it up, Miracle." All Might said quietly. "There's nowhere left to run. Don't do this."
"Nowhere to hide." Endeavor echoed.
Despair creeped along the edge of Izuku's mind, turning her legs to wet noodles. No. Not like this. Everyone was betraying her. First her father, then Bakugo, and now even All Might? It wasn't fair. What had she done wrong?
All Might moved before Izuku could, his massive hand clamping around her wrist like an iron manacle. She hadn't even seen him move.
"Surrender." All Might demanded. His other hand began reaching for her.
The memory of hands reaching at her body caused both Izuku and the world to still. She couldn't tell if it was her memory or Toga's but a sudden rush of panic caused her to jolt, the girl raising a hand in fright.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she shrieked, wrenching her hand away.
All Might let go, clearly surprised by her strength. It was easy to forget that despite how frail she looked, Miracle was one of the strongest metahumans in Japan. Endeavor reacted instantly, creating rings of fire that he planned to imprison her with.
Izuku responded by bringing her hands together in a thunderclap.
The kinetic energy unleashed by her hands meeting was akin to a bomb going off, throwing All Might, Endeavor, and all the surrounding heroes to backwards from the shockwave. Mirko was the first to recover, leaping at Izuku while she sprinted out of a shallow crater. An axe kick whistled through the air and aimed for the back of her head, but the Magical Girl spun on her heel and caught the rabbit hero by the foot. She worked with the momentum and tossed Mirko into the horizon, knowing she'd survive the fall.
Endeavor was next. A wave of fire leapt from his palms and cut off her escape route, forcing her to take a detour through an alleyway. Endeavor flooded the alley with his flames, aiming to cook her alive. He wasn't playing with the kid gloves on.
Then again, he never did.
"Flashfire Fist: Jetburn!"
The attack was a jet-boosted left cross that caught Izuku by surprise, with her barely even managing to slip under it. She responded with an overhand right, pulling her punches so as to not kill the man. There was a meaty crunch when her knuckles met Endeavor's jaw, sending him flying into a nearby convenience store.
Izuku turned to run, so much slower than her flight would have allowed. The pain was dulling her senses and her reaction speed, and even taking a breath seemed like a monumental effort at times. Only one thing was on her mind now; escape. She had to get out of here before—
All Might skidded across the street in front of her, launching into an attack. His right fist came up, headed right at her face.
"Texas—"
Izuku pulled her arm back to match his swing, calculating to match the angle and speed of his fist.
"—Smash!"
Their knuckles met in a shockwave that split the skies and dispersed clouds. All Might's expression was one of shock as he witnessed the pale, tiny little girl brace against his unstoppable Texas Smash. In all his years as a hero, he could count the number of people who stopped one of his smashes with one hand. Even in her weakened state caused by Aizawa, Miracle was capable of standing up to him, actually pushing him back.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed.
All Might's fist slipped against hers when she pushed, his knuckles glancing off her invulnerable cheek. Izuku stepped into his guard, right hand cocking back like the hammer of a revolver.
"Smash!"
Her uppercut met All Might's jaw in a resounding boom, sending him flying. The number one hero was stunned at the power it contained, with enough strength to match one of his own smashes. Now he understood why the HSPC had such a vested interest in her.
She truly was worthy of the title of S-Class. A true powerhouse like himself. He hadn't felt like this ever since he fought Toxic Chainsaw all those years ago.
Endeavor got back into the fight, a gargantuan conflagration in the shape of a fist blooming from his right arm. It screamed towards her, melting the asphalt beneath into tar. Miracle countered with another straight, coring through the attack like a rifle bullet through an apple. The number two hero was prepared for that, having used the fireball to hide his next charged attack. Glowing whips of light ignited upon his fingertips, the man thrusting his hands forward to have the heat rays wrap around Miracle like a net. She howled as they tore into her, carving at her flesh like superheated blades.
Izuku screamed when the whips struck her across the back and chest, crouching down to make herself as small as possible. Gunfire echoed from the rooftops, more of U.A's robots joining the battle.
"Izuku! Izuku, give me control of the body!" Toga yelled, panicking with her.
The Magical Girl grit her teeth, stomping the ground to create temporary shelter with the giant sheets of debris that ruptured upwards. They crumbled under a hail of both gunfire and Quirk effects only seconds later.
"No!" Izuku whimpered. "You'll kill them!"
"It's them or us, Izuku! Give me the body or we're both gonna die!"
She refused, instead focusing on a new sensation of something building within her. Endeavor continued pelting her with fireballs, then a continuous stream of flame when he realized she still wasn't going down. Izuku could feel the pressure building within her core, and all she had to do was—
LET
GO.
Miracle screamed the loudest she ever had, emerald lightning leaping from her fingertips.
[3:26:40 P.M.
Miracle ability activation. Multiple heroes wounded in action.]
The lightning escaped from somewhere within her like a raging torrent. It didn't originate from her, no. The destructive energy came from somewhere beyond, carving deep, jagged lines into the surroundings. She didn't control it, merely channeling the overwhelming power like a conduit. It instantly homed in on her attackers and chained from one target to another, striking them down but leaving them alive. Inorganic material was a completely different story. The lightning didn't hold back there, shattering buildings and tearing the land asunder.
Toga's voice echoed in her head, bubbling with a tone of pitch-black fury.
"Alright, we might be fucked. But if we're fucked, we're taking the rest of these cunts down with us."
The devastation was far beyond anyone ever expected, buildings collapsing while ravines split the streets. If not for the heroes evacuating the civilians earlier, the casualties would have been in the hundreds.
Izuku strode forward as if in a daze, stumbling with her steps. Behind her the lightning branched atop her back, freezing in place. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't lightning on her back at all. They were cracks in reality.
Dozens of eyes and pupils of every shape and size peeked through the cracks caused by Miracle, peering into a world not of their own. They arrayed themselves behind her, looking like the Magical Girl had sprouted a pair of staring, ocular wings. Every single eye twitched and focused on a specific point, the cause of Izuku's pain. They told her of its source in alien tongues.
Izuku turned to look where they were looking. There, at the far end of the street was a hero in a black outfit and yellow goggles. He was staring right at her while surrounded by a squad of heavily-armored U.A robots. Some sort of power to inflict pain with his gaze alone?
Earth exploded around her when Izuku's heel gripped the ground and pushed off, blasting forward. Her fist cored through one robot's chest before moving on to the next, tearing the mechanical guard contingent to pieces. The hero was yelling something at her, but she didn't care anymore. All she wanted was for the pain to stop. Emerald lightning lanced off her fingers, frying an entire squadron of drones.
"Kid! Kid, stop!"
She pulled her robotic enemies apart limb by limb, and finally turned her attention to the hero in black. Gloved fingers curled into hooks and she prepared to claw his eyes out…
"Problem child!" the hero yelled, tearing the goggles off his face.
Izuku's fingers stopped only millimeters away from Eraser Head's glowing red eyes.
"Mr. Aizawa?" she whispered in a small, trembling voice.
"Yeah." Aizawa nodded, the red glow from his eyes dimming as he deactivated Erasure. He recognized her civilian half. "Yeah, it's me."
With Erasure gone, the constant pain assaulting Miracle's senses vanished. The girl's expression was a mix of despair and disbelief, tears beading at her eyes. The dozens of eyes that formed her wings glared at the thin man accusingly before fading away.
"Y-you too, Mr. Aizawa?" Izuku sniffed, finally beginning to cry. "Is this what you call 'following your heart'?"
Aizawa winced. "I…"
"I thought I could trust you. I thought you were different. W-why…"
Eraser Head said nothing.
"Why is everyone so mean to me?" Izuku sobbed, crying into her fists.
Aizawa tried to reach for her, only to pause and let his hand fall. He didn't know what to do in a situation like this. Behind the girl was a scene of absolute carnage, with cars overturned while the debris of buildings lay scattered atop a broken road. The entire place looked like a warzone, but from what he could tell from the comms there weren't any casualties. Even now, was Miracle holding back?
"...was right." The Magical Girl whispered something under her breath.
"What?" Aizawa asked.
"Stain was right." Izuku cried, tears freely rolling down her cheeks. "You're all fakes."
Aizawa's eyes widened. Before he could even activate his Quirk a blue and yellow blur slammed into Miracle from the side, punting her into the air. All Might was back on the field. He saw them from afar and assumed his fellow hero was in trouble.
"DETROIT—"
Izuku raised a hand to catch the incoming attack, then dropped it lifelessly soon after. What was the point of all this? All Might couldn't stop the attack in time, realizing she was going to let him hit her a split second too late.
His fist met her midsection with 100% force before he could stop himself. Miracle shot backwards and crashed into a building, then through it. She made no effort to stop, allowing herself to punch through several more. Concrete and reinforced steel shattered beneath her back, but Izuku felt nothing.
Her body finally came to a stop after going though five whole buildings. She got up from the impact crater in a daze, looking up to find a building all too familiar. It was shaped like a 'H' after the many heroes it produced over the years, the bright afternoon sun reflecting off the blue glass coating its surface.
U.A High School.
Of course. This was the city that housed the infamous hero school. She'd been so busy worrying about the false Angel attack that she forgot. No wonder the ambush team was able to use so many of those robots.
She could hear the teachers rushing out to defend the school, soon catching glimpses of them approaching. Midnight. Hound Dog. Ectoplasm. Izuku once dreamed of attending the prestigious academy and learning under their tutelage. Now…?
Now she didn't know what she wanted anymore. Heroes aren't what she thought they would be like. Nothing like the romanticized stories she read in the magazines or online articles. They were ordinary people, and they were flawed. Dreadfully so.
The teachers surrounded Izuku in a circle, Ectoplasm making reinforcements with his clones while Power Loader brought up the rear with some of his custom mechs. Izuku simply looked around the heroes around her, eyes half-lidded.
I'm so tired.
"Izuku," Toga warned, sensing what she was about to do. "Don't you dare!"
"U.A," Izuku began, powering down into her civilian form. The least she could do was hear them out.
"Izuku, don't!" Toga yelled in her head, exasperated.
"I surrender." Izuku finished.
[3:32:10 P.M.
Miracle detained by U.A staff. Operation Guillotine completed.]
[Chapter 12 End]
Thank you for reading!
This chapter was hard to write, finished it in one day. Trying something experimental with the formatting.
Hope you liked it.
Don't worry, nothing too bad will happen to Izuku.